Taylor Swift’s fans convinced boyfriend Joe Alwyn helped write songs on Folklore under a pseudonym
TAYLOR Swift is sharing the love on her new album, by roping in her long-term boyfriend.
Fans are convinced her actor beau Joe Alwyn has helped write two of the songs on the album Folklore, under the pseudonym William Bowery.
The couple had one of their first dates at a Kings of Leon concert in New York in 2016 and later went to the Bowery Hotel, which is what the name is believed to be a reference to.
Taylor announced today that the surprise album will be out tomorrow after writing and recording the entire thing in lockdown.
But it’s another blow for Kanye West, continuing their 11-year feud, as it puts her head-to-head with the rapper who is also due to release an album tomorrow called Donda: With Child.
And as if to rub salt in the wounds for Kanye, hers is a dead cert for No1 across the globe as she’s announced SIXTEEN different physical versions, with eight on vinyl and eight on CD, in the hopes her sales will surge with megafans buying all of them.
It means she could end Kanye’s nine-strong streak of consecutive No1 album debuts on the US chart - stopping him from beating Eminem, who he is currently tied with.
In what Kanye is sure to feel is a jibe, she has also teamed up with American band Bon Iver, who have previously collaborated with the rapper on several tracks.
As if the timing wasn’t perfect enough, her announcement yesterday also overshadowed the tenth anniversary celebrations of One Direction, which her ex-boyfriend Harry Styles was in.
A music insider said: “Taylor has got her fans majorly excited with this sudden new album announcement so millions of people will be listening to it from the second it’s released at 5am.
“It will be one of the biggest albums of the year so Kanye’s record doesn’t really stand a chance.
“Since Taylor announced the record, he was considering postponing his release because he knows it will be embarrassing if Taylor beats him, which seems extremely likely.”
Folklore comes less than a year on from her hit album Lover, although the accompanying tour due this summer was axed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
After being forced to stay at home, she started working on the project in April and quickly wrapped up the 17-song collection.
She said: “Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed.
“My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world.”
It definitely seems like the perfect time to me.
Taylor and Kanye drama over the years
In 2009 Kanye interrupts Taylor’s MTV VMAs speech and said Beyonce should have won.
Kanye releases Famous in 2016, singing: “I made that bitch famous.”
He claims she agreed to the lyrics. It was proved this year she didn’t.
Taylor channels the backlash against her following the 2016 spat into 2017 album Reputation.
She makes jibes about him and Kim in several songs and calls them “bullies” in an interview.
Summer sizzler in Mix
LITTLE Mix look incredible in this snap taken to promote the new single Holiday, but the track is even hotter than they are.
Opening the sweltering song, out today, Jesy Nelson sings: “Boy, have I told you? I swear you put the sun up in my sky.
“When it’s cold you pull me closer, so hot it’s like the middle of the July.”
And the chorus with Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock is sexier still. They sing: “Can we make it all night, we don’t stop, fill up on my body, babe.
“Touch me like a summer night, you feel like a holiday.”
It’s the second tune from their upcoming sixth album, which is expected later this year, following the Top Ten single Break Up Song.
With travelling still tricky, this slice of summer is the only holiday I’ll get this year.
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MAROON 5 are back tomorrow with new track Nobody’s Love. It is the second single from their as-yet untitled seventh album, which fans hope will be out this year. Their most recent song, Memories, got to No5 in September last year.
Females a prize asset
THE shortlist for the Mercury Prize is usually packed with arty farty, obscure acts but this year it is more mainstream than ever – and for the first time women outnumber men.
Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Laura Marling are among the more recognisable females on the list for the coveted prize, which aims to celebrate the best British album of the past 12 months.
Dua said: “I never really thought this would ever happen to me. Maybe I just didn’t think I was cool enough.”
Also on the 12-album shortlist is Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head, Georgia’s Seeking Thrills, Kano’s Hoodies All Summer and Dark Matter by Moses Boyd.
Records by Michael Kiwanuka, Anna Meredith and female-led bands Lanterns On The Lake and Porridge Radio, plus indie band Sports Team, round out the nominations for the gong, to be awarded on September 24.
Alex Rice from Sports Team issued fighting talk on why they deserve to win.
He told me today: “Dua Lipa will be the biggest star in the room and even though that’s an incredible album, I think you can’t beat the spirit of a group of people who live together and go around the world and play music for thousands of people. Nothing beats that.
“I’m going to go down the bookies and see what odds you can get on us.
“Stranger things have happened.”
Kim rift wider
TENSIONS between Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian are getting even more fraught and it seems unlikely things will settle down any time soon.
I’m told he has threatened to leak family secrets on Twitter if she tries to force him to get professional help for his bipolar disorder.
Kim put out a statement this week asking for “compassion” for the rapper but admitting she was “powerless” because he would not seek treatment.
Kanye has warned Kim he will livestream any attempt by her to put him in a psychiatric facility.
She and her family remain in California, more than 1,000 miles from Kanye.
A source said: “Kanye is very unwell and everyone is very worried for him. He’s acting extremely paranoid and seems convinced Kim and her mum Kris Jenner are ‘out to get him’.
“Kanye’s told Kim that if the Kardashian family try and stage an intervention he’ll livestream it on Twitter and ‘show the world the truth’.”
“He’s warned Kim he knows the family secrets and will put them all out there.
“But her only concern at this stage is getting Kanye help and protecting their four children.”
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In a now-deleted Twitter rant, Kanye claimed he has been “trying to divorce Kim” for two years and said they had been attempting to have him detained in a psychiatric hospital.
Like all of Kanye’s fans, I just hope he gets the help he needs when he is ready.
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